Parish’s first splash park should open in May

The redesign of Ormond field in Destrehan, which will add the parish’s first splash park along with a walking trail around the area, should be completed in May.

The park’s renovation costs more than $1 million and has been underway since October. Along with the splash park, which will be free to use, the field has been completely redesigned with two baseball/softball fields, a football field, batting cages, upgraded playground equipment and new pavilions.

A centralized pavilion will also cover a concession stand that will include bathrooms and storage areas. A fence will be constructed along the border of the park for safety.

The park was originally scheduled for completion in February, but an unusually cold winter extended construction time on the project. Councilwoman Wendy Benedetto said additional funding was secured to complete a walking path around the park and new lighting had to be ordered.

“I’d rather it be prolonged and done right then add things to it next year or the year after,” she said.

Duane Foret, director of Parks and Recreation, said officials realized that a walking path that was supposed to travel throughout the park would only be halfway complete. The St. Charles Parish Council recently added $73,616 to the project to make sure the entire path is completed in time for May 7.

“We’ve been stressing that this would be a community park, but (if the path was only halfway complete) we would be leaving out a large section of our population – parents, godparents, caregivers – that could drop their kids off to the splash park or playground and utilize the walking path for their needs,” Foret said.

Benedetto is also hopeful that the entire park will be unveiled at one time instead of opening up different areas to the public as they are finished.

“It should be ready right as everyone is out of school. I hope that everyone gets on board and is as excited as I am,” Benedetto said. “I am already getting compliments on how it looks.”

The splash park will be the only public facility in the parish that parents can visit with their children to cool off during the summer months. The padding of the park will be motion-activated so that water will not be wasted.